Three opposition lawmakers, including two Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputies and one main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) MP, were stripped of their statuses as members of the Turkish Parliament after their prison sentences on terror charges were upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeals.
Istanbul deputy Enis Berberoğlu from the CHP and Hakkari deputy Leyla Güven and Diyarbakır deputy Musa Farisoğulları from the HDP were stripped of their seats in parliament after the final verdict from the Supreme Court of Appeals over their cases were read by deputy Parliament Speaker Süreyya Sadi Bilgiç upon a presidential motion.
Tension flared up in parliament as CHP and HDP lawmakers slammed Bilgiç for reading the final order at the General Assembly in a bid to revoke the seats of the opposition lawmakers.
“The dismissal of Mr. Enis Berberoğlu is a disrespect to the will of the people and a result of the civilian coup staged on July 20 [2016]. We will continue our democratic struggle for justice and the rights,” CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said on Twitter, referring to the date a state of emergency rule was imposed in Turkey in the wake of a coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
Berberoğlu was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2017 on espionage charges for providing daily Cumhuriyet with a video purporting to show Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucking weapons into Syria.
He was released from prison in late 2018 after a 15-month imprisonment. He was re-elected as an MP in the June 24, 2018 elections.
Leyla Güven, who was elected to represent the southeastern province of Hakkari in June 2018, was released from prison in January 2019 after an 11-week hunger strike. She was accused of “conducting terror activities” following her statements and social media posts on Turkey’s “Operation Olive Branch” against the YPG in northwestern Syria.
The prosecutor demanded more than 31 years in jail for Güven in February after accusing her of “establishing and managing an armed terrorist organization” as well as “making terrorist propaganda.”
Farisoğulları was sentenced to nine years in prison in the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) case.
